Apparatus for manufacturing leather goods and the like

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for manufacturing goods made of leather or like material in which a flat piece of the material, preconditioned to be readily deformable, is located between a diaphragm and a former, the diaphragm is moved to nip the material between the diaphragm and the former, the locating means is removed, the diaphragm is moved towards the former until a frame in which it is held makes a vacuum-tight seal with a table on which the former is mounted, and vacuum is applied to cause the diaphragm to draw and shape the material closely around the former.

United States Patent [191 White et al.

[ APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING LEATHER GOODS AND THE LIKE [76] Inventors:Raymond Charles White,

Newtonhurst, Darlington Rd., Bathwick, Bath, Somerset; William FrankWalker, 8, Friars Cl., Croyland Park, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire,both of England [22] Filed: July 21, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 273,840

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 126,042, March19, 1971, Pat.

[52] US. Cl. 12/54.l

[51] Int. Cl A43d 11/00 [58] Field of Search l2/54.l, l R, 1 F, 1 W,12/543, 53.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,160,899 12/1964 Bille eta1. 12/1 F 5] Apr. 16, 1974 3/1967 Staden l2/54.l 5/1970 Carr l2/l W [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for manufacturing goods made of leather or likematerial in which a flat piece of the material, preconditioned to bereadily deformable, is located be tween a diaphragm and a former, thediaphragm is moved to nip the material between the diaphragm and theformer, the locating means is removed, the dia phragm is moved towardsthe former until a frame in which it is held makes a vacuum-tight sealwith a table on which the former is mounted, and vacuum is applied tocause the diaphragm to draw and shape the material closely around theformer.

8 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATEWEHAP'R 16 mm SHEET 2 UF 4 vOI:ATENTEHAPR 16 m4 SHEET l UF 4 FIG.|O.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING LEATHER I GOODS AND THE LIKE Thisapplication is a division of our co-pending US Pat. application Ser. No.126,042 dated Mar. 19, 1971, now US. Pat. No. 3,688,326.

It relates to the manufacture of articles made from leather, syntheticplastics, bonded or woven fibre, paper or other materials which maysimulate leather, even to the extent that they are very slightly porousand are said to ,breathe." One such material, made from polyurethane, isknown by the Registered Trade Mark PORVAIR.

The invention is particularly useful in the manufacture of boots andshoes but may be applied to the manufacture of other types of leathergoods. Similarly it may be applied to the manufacture of boots and shoesor other goods which are made from synthetic plastics, bonded fibre,paper or other materials which simulate leather. The term or the like isused to embrace all these variations.

In the manufacture of shoes, the method as generally practised atpresent is first to construct the upper and for this purpose shapedpieces are cut from a sheet of leather or'the like.

One or more of the pieces may be partly preformed, that is, shaped bytreating each piece with heat and/or steam, or otherwise, to make itreadily deformable, and then clamping it in a shaped die. The pieces arethen sewn or bonded together so that a substantially complete upper isprovided, and linings are attached to the inside surface if desired. Alast of the shape of the shoe to be made has an insole attached to it,the upper is placed upon it and the assembly is placed in a machine inwhich the edges of the upper are pulled underneath the edges of the lastand over the insole. Heating, which may be high frequency, and/orconditioning by steam, may be applied so that when the operation hasbeen completed the upper conforms to the shape of the last. The edges ofthe upper which have been pulled under the last vary considerablyinwidth and are creased and puckered,and they are attached to the undersurface of the insole, usually by nailing or adhesives. The uneven,creased and puckered edges of the piece at the under surface of the lastare next ground away so that the creases and puckers disappear and theedges are roughened to accept an adhesive for sole attachment.

Numerous operationsare necessary up to the stage described above andsince the last must remain in the shoe beyond the stage covered by theforegoing description and up to an advanced stage of manufacture, it isnecessary to stock a large number of pairs of lasts for each size andshape of shoe which is to be manufactured, to ensure that during a longproduction run the factory is not brought to a halt by a shortage oflasts.

The principal object of the invention is to provide apparatus tosimplifyand improve the manufacture of footwear, such as boots and shoes, andother leather goods and the like, in which the numberof operationsnecessary is reduced and a minimum number of formers is used to producean article, which article conforms more accurately to the desired shapeand is better adapted to mass production.

The invention consists of apparatus for manufacturing goods made of amaterial such as leather or a leather substitute or like materialcomprising a table having a peripheral sealing edge, a former fixed tothe table, a frame movable towards and away from the table to hold aflexible diaphragm, means to suspend one or more shaped pieces ofmaterial between the former and the diaphragm, a further peripheralsealing edge on the frame to co-operate with the said peripheral sealingedge on the table to provide a vacuum tight seal, and means to apply avacuum to the space enclosed by the diaphragm after the vacuum tightseal has been formed, whereby the or each piece of material is closelydrawn around the respective area of the former.

Conveniently the former is fixed to a horizontal table having aperipheral vacuum sealing edge, the material is suspended above theformer in a horizontal plane by means of finger clamps, retaining pins,clips, adhesive, vacuum or pressure depending upon the material beingused and the final shape, which are disengaged and withdrawn after thematerial has been held in its correct location between the former andthe diaphragm, and the diaphragm is attached to a horizontal framehaving a lower vacuum sealing edge around the periphery of its undersidewhich engages the peripheral sealing edge of the table when the frame islowered.

An apparatus according to the invention, and the method of usethereof,-will now be described, by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying drawing in which;

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation partly in section, of the apparatusused to carry out the method;

FIG. 2 is a view of a piece of material cut to a shape which, whenformed, will provide an article having the desired shape and dimensions;

FIG. 3 is a view of the bottom of a shoe upper;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of a support for a fore-part former;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the support of FIG. 4; FIG. 6 is a planview of the support of FIGS. 4 and FIG. 7 is a pictorial view of theformer, support and diaphragm for a former for producing full backs ofshoes;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation of the former shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is an end elevation of the former of FIG. 8, also showing thediaphragm; and

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a small part of the diaphragm support ofFIGS. 7 and 9 showing how the diaphragm is clamped in position.

Referring to the drawings, a suitable apparatus for carrying out theinvention in relation to the manufacture of shoes comprises a horizontaltable 11 having an upstanding peripheral edge 12 whose upper surface 13will, in conjunction with a mating surface, form a vacuum seal. Aformer, generally indicated by reference .14 is so shaped as to definethe fore-parts of two shoe uppers joined together, one being indicatedby reference 15 and the other by reference 16.

Since two shoe upper fore-parts are to be formed in one operation theformer is so shaped that one upper fore-part is for a left shoe and theother is for a right shoe of the same size and matching fitting. Theformer is mounted on the table by a small platform 17. A-tube 18 forms aconnection to vacuum equipment and is connected with ducts or channels(not shown) by which the outer part of the former is placed incommunication with the vacuum equipment. FIG. 2 shows the shape of apiece 19 of material for a particular shape and size of shoe, drawn to alarger scale than FIG. 1.

It includes a tongue portion 20, and the points at which finger clampsmay be attached are shown dotted at 21, 22 and 23. It will be' evidentthat if a moderate pull is exerted on each'of these clamps the piece 19will be kept reasonably taut and if the clamps are correctly located thepiece l9'may be located with equal accuracy. An aperture such as a smallslot or hole may be punched at each of the clamping points, as indicatedat 24, and the finger clamps may include small pins to promote accuracyin location. If the outer, tanned, surface (in the case of apiece ofleather) is uppermost in FIG. .2 then the resulting upper will be for aleft shoe and if the tanned surface is underneath then the upper will befor a right shoe.

Two pieces, as shown in FIG. 2, to form a pair of upper fore-parts orvamp's, are engaged by finger clamps such as those shown at 25, 26, 27and 28, and two more which are not seen. By means of the finger clampsthe pieces are accurately located above the former 14. A frame,generally indicated at 29, is of the same'overall size as the peripheralportion 12 of the table 11 and has a lower surface 30 which, whenengaged with the surface 13, will form a vacuum seal.

'Clamped in .the frame 29 is a diaphragm 31 which is made ofa flexibleand expansible material such as rubber latex. At any suitable point inthe procedure, the pieces. are conditioned, by heating if purelythermoplastic, or by the application of moist heat, for example bysteaming, so that they will readily distort and conform' to the shapeofthe former.

To carry out the forming operation a carrier by which the finger clamps,and hence the pieces of material, are carried, is lowered until thepieces of material touch the former at one or more points. The frame 29is then lowered until the diaphragm 31 is in contact with the pieces ofmaterial so that the material is nipped and lightly held in its correctlocation. The finger clamps are then removed and the frame 29 is lowereduntil the surface 30 engages the surface 13 to provide a vacuum seal.Vacuum is applied so that the diaphragm is drawn downwardly and formsand draws the pieces of material closely'around the former and turns theedges over to lie against a marginal undersurface of the former at 32.

' The apparatus is then left for-a time sufficient for the piecesofmaterial to cool, whereupon the vacuum may bereleased and theapparatus opened to allow removal of the formed fore-parts or vamps.

By the simple process described above it is possible to produce the twovamps for a pair of shoes.

FIG. 3 shows a view of the bottom of a formed vamp, the shape showingonly the marginal or edge portion 33 which is formed against themarginal undersurface 32 of the former. An important characteristic ofthis marginal portion is that it is of uniform width and accuratelyshaped, which simplifies later operations in the manufacture of theshoes.

Since the process according to the invention minimiz es' the creases orpuckers and the marginal portion is of uniformwidth no initial grindingaway is required and the vamp (with a lining if this is required) may becemented or welded to a sole, an insole being inserted and cemented orwelded into place afterwards. Naturally, variations in theprocessdescribed above may be made within thescope of the invention.

The shape of upper shown in FIG. 3 has deliberately been chosen as-onewhich includes rather sharp bends. In order to make quite sure thatthere can be no creasing or puckering of the marginal undersurface 33 ofthe formed piece small nicks, indicated at 34, may be made in the pieceswhen they are first cut to shape. For the particular shoe for which theupper shown in FIG. 3 is required the portion of the margin at 35 willbe turned into the position shown dotted at 36 when the upper is placedon a foot former for a subsequent operation, such as welding on of asole, and nicks 37 may be provided to ensure that there is no puckeringas the part is turned in. It will be understood that other components ofa shoe upper may also be formed, singly or in pairs or other multiples,by the use of appropriate formers.

In forming a complex shape such as a shoe upper or a full back (that isto say, the rear part of a shoe which is made in one piece without theusual vertical seam at the back) it is often desirable to shape thesupport on which the former is carried in such a way as to facilitatethe movement of the diaphragm on the one hand, so that it makes intimatecontact with the former and the support without becoming crinkled and,on the other hand, without being excessively stretched at any point. Itmay also be desirable to support the diaphragm in such a way that,instead of being flat, it has a desired configuration to suit the shapeof the former. Examples of such shaping of the support and configurationof the diaphragm are shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 and 7 to 10. In FIGS. 4 to 6the support for the former is generally indicated by reference 38, theformer being indicated in dotted lines at 39. In plan the support hasthe general shape of the former but is cut back all round. The uppercontour is indicated at 40 and 41 and, as shown at 42 and 43, the endsare sloped, the sides of the support being also sloped, as indicated at44 and 45. The contour as seen in plan is indicated in FIGS. 5 and 6,the contour of the upper surface of the support being shown at 46 andthe contour of the lower surface being shown at 47.

FIG. 7 is a pictorial view of the former and diaphragm for forming fullbacks for a pair of shoes, which may or may not have a vertical seam atthe rear. The base of the former is indicated at 48. Two end pieces,respectively 49 and 50, are shaped to make a vacuum tight joint with acurved portion 51 at each end of a framework 53 which supports thediaphragm 52. The framework 53 is in two parts to enable the edges ofthe diaphragm to be clamped between them and the framework is so shapedthat-the configuration of the diaphragm suits the shape of the former.One support 54 by which the framework 53 is carried is shown. The othersupports and a number of clamping screws have been omitted in FIG. 7 butare shown in later Figures. The former itself consists of two parts,respectively 55 and 56, which are joined together, and an elevation ofthe former parts 55 and 56 is shown in FIG. 8, the diaphragm and itssupporting framework being omitted in the last-mentioned Figure.

As shown in FIG. 8, the former parts 55 and 56 are formed to produce twofull backs, one for a right shoe and one for a left shoe. The end pieces49 and 50 are shown and it will be observed that the former parts 55 and56 are provided with end supports, respectively 57 and 58, which areshaped in such a manner that the diaphragm is not excessively stretchedand at the same time will not become crinkled when it is drawn over theformer partsSS and S6. The base 48 of the former is also shown in FIG.8. The manner in which vacuum may be applied will be obvious from theforegoing description of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is an end view of the former assembly of FIGS. 7 and 8 and showsthe diaphragm with its framework. The base 48, end piece 50 and theformer part 56 are shown in FIG. 9, together with the framework 53 whichis in twomating parts to enable the diaphragm to be clamped between themby means of nuts on the supports 54, of which there are four, andadditional screws and wingnuts 59. One end of the framework 53 is showndrawn to a slightly larger scale in FIG. 10. This includes one of thesupports 54 and screws and wingnuts 59 which are placed at intervalsaround the framework 53 so that the diaphragm 52 may be securelyclamped. It will be noted from FIGS. 7 and 10 that the diaphragm 52 isnot necessarily stretched when in the framework 53 and it may beadvantageous in fixing the diaphragm into'the framework 53 to leave itsomewhat slacker or looser in some places than in others, depending uponthe shape of the mould and the amount of stretching to which differentparts of the diaphragm will be subjected in actual operation. Attentionto such matters increases the life of the diaphragm when in actualoperation.

Similarly, parts for other kinds of leather goods or the like may beformed by the use of the method according to the invention.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for forming a shaped piece of leather by drawing the pieceover a former with the aid of a diaphragm acted upon by vacuum, theapparatus comprising a table carrying a fixed former and having aperipheral vacuum sealing edge, a frame holding the flexible diaphragmmovable towards and away from the table and having a co-operatingsealing edge to enable a vacuum to be formed in the space enclosed bythe diaphragm and table, means for producing the vacuum, and a removablegripping device including a plurality of locating and gripping means bywhich a shaped piece of leather in flat form may be located and grippedat a plurality of points around its periphery to enable the piece to besuspended close to the former and correctly located with respectthereto, the gripping device being removable after the frame has beenmoved towards the former to an extent sufficient to enable the piece tobe nipped and retained in the correctly located position between theformer and the diaphragm, so that on further moving the frame intocontact with the table and applying the vacuum the flat piece is formedto a desired final shape in a single operation.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the means to suspend thepiece between the former and the diaphragm comprises removable fingerclamps.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising a support on the tableupon which the former is mounted, the support being so shaped that thediaphragm will, under vacuum, conform closely to the shape of the formerand the support without becoming crinkled and without being excessivelystretched at any point.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the frame is shaped tosupport the diaphragm in such a manner that its initial configuration isaccommodated to the shape of the former.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the former is so shaped andthe gripping device is so arranged as to locate and grip and form aplurality of pieces in a single operation. v

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which the former is shaped toproduce two fore-parts, respectively for left and right shoes.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the former is shaped toproduce two full backs, respectively for left and right shoes.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the piece is a piece ofleather substitute material.

1. Apparatus for forming a shaped piece of leather by drawing the pieceover a former with the aid of a diaphragm acted upon by vacuum, theapparatus comprising a table carrying a fixed former and having aperipheral vacuum sealing edge, a frame holding the flexible diaphragmmovable towards and away from the table and having a co-operatingsealing edge to enable a vacuum to be formed in the space enclosed bythe diaphragm and table, means for producing the vacuum, and a removablegripping device including a plurality of locating and gripping means bywhich a shaped piece of leather in flat form may be located and grippedat a plurality of points around its periphery to enable the piece to besuspended close to the former and correctly located with respectthereto, the gripping device being removable after the frame has beenmoved towards the former to an extent sufficient to enable the piece tobe nipped and retained in the correctly located position between theformer and the diaphragm, so that on further moving the frame intocontact with the table and applying the vacuum the flat piece is formedto a desired final shape in a single operation.
 2. Apparatus as claimedin claim 1 in which the means to suspend the piece between the formerand the diaphragm comprises removable finger clamps.
 3. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 1 comprising a support on the table upon which theformer is mounted, the support being so shaped that the diaphragm will,under vacuum, conform closely to the shape of the former and the supportwithout becoming crinkled and without being excessively stretched at anypoint.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the frame is shapedto support the diaphragm in such a manner that its initial configurationis accommodated to the shape of the former.
 5. Apparatus as claimed inclaim 1 in which the former is so shaped and the gripping device is soarranged as to locate and grip and form a plurality of pieces in asingle operation.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which the formeris shaped to produce two fore-parts, respectively for left and rightshoes.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the former is shapedto produce two full backs, respectively for left and right shoes. 8.Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the piece is a piece of leathersubstitute material.